From Glitter to Stardust
by wakingonprospit
Summary: Cronus and his brother, Eridan, have recently moved out of their parents house. When Eridan and Karkat have a history project together, Cronus meets Kankri. Kankri never thought he would fall for someone so fast while Cronus never thought he would actually fall for someone. Rated M for future smut. Will update weekly. Cronkri. Humanstuck. Highschool AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Cronus. Move in. =**

You grab the last cardboard box from the back of your truck, tucking it under your arm as you make your way up the sidewalk leading toward the small apartment complex. You and your brother had only got into town last night, leaving your own home hours away.

You take the elevator up and unlock the second door on the left, walking into the apartment empty of everything save some furniture and piles of boxes in the center of the room. You walk over and set the last box on top of the others, sighing quietly.

After dropping Eridan off at school this morning, you decided that you really shouldn't put off unpacking anymore. So the past five hours have been spent visiting nearby furniture and appliance stores trying to get the apartment in working order. It took another few hours to rearrange all of the furniture, it didn't help that the hallways were narrow and that you had to assemble both yours and Eridan's beds.

By the time Eridan came into the apartment, unlocking the door with his key, you were almost done unpacking the living room and had started on moving all of your clothes into the closet.

Eridan walks in, kicking his shoes off and looking around. "Cro?"

Eridan is a twelve years old, skinny sixth grader. He has fluffy blond hair, and light freckles that dust over his pale nose and cheeks, while you are a bit tanner, with jet black hair, slicked back. Well, slicked back the best you can anyway. Normally your hair has a curl to it that makes it a pain to deal with. You're tall, and more built than a lot of people you know. This is probably from swimming so much. You won't admit it to a lot of people, but you absolutely love to swim. Oh, and both you and Eridan have deep ocean blue eyes.

"Ey. In here, Dan." You call from your room. You hear him toss his bag to the floor, then the footsteps getting closer as he makes his way to your room. He walks into the room and pushes his thick rimmed glasses up his nose some as he sits on your newly assembled bed. Honestly you don't know quite what to say to him. You never did tell him exactly what happened that made you leave your parent's house late last night, and then drive 4 hours to spend the night at your aunt's house, and he hasn't asked. The two of you have talked about leaving before; you just weren't sure when it would happen. Last night decided for you.

You continue to take things out of your boxes, rearranging them in your new desk drawers. Eridan sits in silence for a moment, bouncing slightly on your bed. After a few minutes of watching you silently busy yourself around the room he speaks up. "The main room looks good."

You close the drawer and stand up, stretching slightly, "Yeah?" Eridan nods, "Yeah." You look around room for a moment, and then run a hand through your jet black hair. "Looks a lot smaller when it's not completely empty, yeah?" You chuckle breathlessly, tired from moving things around all day and not sleeping last night. Eridan laughs quietly and nods in agreement, "Yeah… but it looked small before." "Comparatively yeah." You shake your head a bit, laughing quietly.

"Come on Dan. You want pizza?" You say as you turn and head back toward the main room, only to be followed quickly by your little brother. "Yeah!" He smiles, "Are you ordering now?" With a short nod you pull out his cell phone, sitting down on your new couch, patting the space beside you for Eridan to sit.

You orders two small pizzas, one vegetarian and one meat lovers, not having to ask Eridan what he wanted. Eridan's been going back and forth with this vegetarian thing. You're pretty sure he's only doing it because your cousin, Feferi, talked him into it.

After the pizza had been ordered you lean back against the couch and sit in silence for a moment. Until Eridan breaks the silence that is, sitting up a bit straighter, "Cro?" "Yeah?" "You never told me what happened."

You turn your head to look at your brother, who is now pointing to the side of your forehead. The two of you catch eyes for a moment, staring at each other, blue eyes locked on each other in silence.

Then you shrug and look away, "Don' worry about it Dan." You look back to smile down reassuringly at him, ruffling his hair gently. "It's not a big deal." That's not completely true. Your dad has called you at least three times today trying to convince you to come back, but you don't plan on doing that until things get better.

This response doesn't seem to pacify Eridan, as he pulls up onto his knees, reaching out to touch the two fresh, stitched up, and jagged scars on the side of your forehead gently. "Does it hurt?" You hiss quietly at the pain, and swat Eridan's hand away. "Yeah it hurts like a bitch." You frown and cross your arms. "Oh." Eridan crosses his arms as well and slumps down as he looks away slowly from you slowly, "Im sorry..."

You absolutely cannot stand to see him sad. If it were anyone else you wouldn't care, but your little brother is and always will be, hands down, the most important person to you. "It's fine Eridan..." Then you reach over and mess with his hair a bit. "Hey Dan. You still wantin ta dye your hair?" Eridan immediately perks up, "Yes! Not all of it though. Just this part," He grins and gestures to the bangs of his hair then frowns slightly, "but dad wont let me..." You nod a bit in understanding; Eridan had asked your dad over and over if he could get his hair dyed purple for about a year now. Each time he did though your dad would tell him no and give some lame excuse about how it's not "respectable for a young man to- blah blah blah." The way you see it, if Dan's that set on dying his hair, then let him.

You grin at him, "Well why don' you go finish unpacking your room... An' after pizza gets here I'll go out and buy some dye." Eridan sits up straighter, "W-wait really?" he grins excitedly.

You can't help but laugh quietly as you stand up, nodding some and walking toward the door. Eridan also stands up and walks toward his room excitedly only to turn around and come back, "Oh yeah Cro, I was put in a group project for history. Can I go over to my partner's house after school tomorrow?"

You pause from where you were by the door, putting on your heavy leather jacket, "huh? A group project already?" you're slightly surprised that his teacher would throw him into a project so soon; but you aren't too worried. "Yeah that's fine I guess... Just let me know where and when I need to pick ya up."

Eridan nods a bit, smiling and says "I'll ask Kar then let you know." _Car? Who the fuck names their kid car?_ You sit by the door and start pulling your combat boots back on, only to have Eridan asks, "Where are you going?"

You stand back up and pause for a moment to check your pockets. "Jus' outside for a sec'" after finding what you were looking for you smile at Eridan. "I'll be right back Dan."

The blond haired boy nods slightly in understanding then turns to his room, walking in to unpack just as you walk out of your shared apartment. You make a right down the hall, walking back the way you came, then click the button on the elevator. As you wait in the elevator on its way to the ground floor you reach up and gently feel the mark made only recently on the right side of your forehead.

You really need a smoke.


	2. Chapter 2

**Kankri. Go home.**

It's been a little over an hour since you entered your math class. School should be ending any moment now and quite frankly you're tired of listening to the assholes around you. You've spent the whole class period trying to take notes while the rest of the class continues to talk over what the teacher is saying. Apparently your teacher does not take into consideration that some people in this room are actually trying to pass his class.

After about another ten minutes of listening to the other students talk around you, quite loudly might you add, the bell signaling the end of the day finally rings. This of course causes everyone in your class to get up and rush out of the room. One of them, a boy that sits in the back of the room, even thinks that it is appropriate to knock your binder off of your desk, sending papers off in different directions. _It was not appropriate._

You hold completely still as everyone else leaves the classroom, breathing evenly and looking straight ahead. Then after the last person has left, you slowly move from your seat to kneel on the ground and gather up your papers. After stacking them neatly and then placing them into your binder again, deciding you will organize it later, you return all of your belongings back into your satchel and quickly leave the room.

As you make your way down the hall you keep your head down, trying to avoid the crowd as much as possible while making your way to your locker.

Once you get there, you stand as close to the wall as you can, fumbling with the lock, easily putting in your combination. You open your locker only to have it closed again with a loud slam. You pull your hands away from the door just in time to not get your finger crushed. You grimace at the noise as your head snaps over to face the person who had shut your locker. Meenah Peixes. "Hey insufferable."

By no means do you like Meenah. She picks on you and treats you horribly a lot of the time. She calls you names and talks down to you. But, she is not as bad as a lot of people that pick on you. Meenah, at least, knows when enough is enough. Porrim has told you many times that Meenah treats everyone like this; that she doesn't mean anything by it, it's just how she acts.

You let out a quiet sigh and start to open your locker back up, "Meenah. I have told you several times I absolutely detest you using that name to-" she shuts the locker again.

This time you turn to face her fully to see she is leaning against the wall by your locker. She puts a tan and perfectly manicured hand on her hip, smirking. "You seen Serket anywhere?"

You think back for a moment, looking upwards. You can't recall having seen her since lunch time when she dropped by your table to talk to Porrim. Your gaze falls back to Meenah's dark brown eyes, but you can hear her tapping her foot in annoyance as she crosses her arms, "Weeeelll?"

"I have not seen her since lunch." You pause for a moment before asking, "Why would I know where sh-" she cuts you of again, you know she doesn't like to listen to you talk, not many people do, "Her and Maryam skipped class last period. "You frown at this. Porrim has skipped class before and each time you have lectu- explained to her why she should not be skipping classes in favor of doing who knows what.

Just as you open your mouth to speak you see Porrim and Aranea making their way down the hall, toward the two of you. You would ask Porrim where she had been but you know she will not give you an answer, instead she would tell you it was none of your business. So after pointing in the direction of the two girls you turn back to your locker, opening it again to get your extra textbooks out.

Meenah turns her attention to the shorter of the two girls walking up. "Yo Serket." She looks back at you for a moment, then reaches out, ruffling your messy red hair, "See you Vantas." She grins and walks over to Aranea. She doesn't call you "Insufferable" when Porrim is around. No one really is mean to you when you are with her. You've decided long ago that it's because one; she knows everything about everyone and isn't afraid to spread rumors, true or not. And two; Porrim is absolutely the most beautiful girl in the whole world. She's tall and slender with tan skin, long, dark black hair, and dark green eyes. She has tattoos down her arms and legs, and piercings in her lips and eyebrows, though she still seems to make it look elegant.

Porrim has been your best friend since early middle school. She's one of the only people who is constantly nice to you. Honestly she's more like a sister to you than a friend. The two of you argue sometimes but she's always there for you, and vice versa.

She says a quick goodbye to Aranea and kisses her cheek quickly then starts to walk toward you as the other two girls walk in the opposite direction. Porrim smiles and flips a bit of her hair out of her face as she walks closer. "Hello Kanny." You smile then roll your eyes at the nickname, "Hello Porrim." "Are you ready to go?" She reaches out and tries to smooth the hair that Meenah messed up back down, then hooks her arm with yours and after a small nod from you; the two of you make your way down the hall.

You walk with her to the school's parking lot, engaging in casual conversation as you make your way outside. She tells you how her day went and you tell her how yours was, even though it was no different from any other day.

It's cold outside, and by the time you reach your car, your hands are cold. You both say goodbye and after a quick, "Please drive safe." from you, she walks away, leaving you to get in your car and be on your way to pick up your little brother from the middle school.

You drive slowly the whole way there. Though you've had your license for a couple of years now, you have never really gotten use to driving. Karkat sometimes fusses about the way you drive, occasionally telling you that you "drive like a grandma." Though for the most part, he is rather understanding, only getting annoyed when you refuse to turn the music up.

Once you get to the middle school, you pull up to the pickup area where you see Karkat standing by the door to the front of the school. He's almost always one of the last people picked up.

When you pull up to the curb he's already waiting beside it. He opens the door and slides into the passenger side, tossing his book bag over his shoulder into the back seat. You glance over at him before you start driving again, "How was school?" He gives you a short shrug. "It was fine I guess." You nod slightly in acknowledgement as he proceeds to tell you about his day.

Karkat looks a lot like you. You both have the same brown eyes, with tiny red flecks in them. You both have the same button nose, and ears and facial shape, though his face was a bit chubbier, only because he was young and still had a bit of baby fat left. You are both are pretty short, and relatively skinny. The only major difference between the two of you is your hair. While you both have messy hair, his is dark brown, almost black, and yours is red.

The two of you slowly fall back into silence for a while. After a few minutes you speak up again, "Do you have any homework for this tonight?" He blinks a bit, seeming to think about it for a moment. "Oh! I have a group history project that I have to work on. Can my partner come over tomorrow?" You think it over for a moment, then decide that the two of you really didn't have anything planned. "Yes, of course they can. Who is it? Will one of their parents pick them up?"

Your younger brother sighs quietly at the questions, "He's this new kid named Eridan that I got stuck with." You furrow your eyebrows a bit, not taking your eyes off the road, "What do you mean you got stuck with him?" He slouches down and crosses his arms, grumbling, "Kanaya wanted to work with Vriska this time, and Gamzee wasn't there today, and no one wanted to be partners with his kid because he's really weird and wouldn't shut the f-… shut up about Harry Potter."

Your mouth opens slightly then closes again at the younger boys near slip up. Karkat has lately made a bad habit of swearing. You've had to lecture him several times within the past few months on his behavior, even having to request your father to talk to him once. While he has been cursing less frequently since then, he still occasionally seems to forget to watch what he says. You did however look up different articles about children swearing and have decided that he is just going through a phase.

You shake your head a bit. "Karkat that is very rude of you to sa-" "but he's not here!" You frown and explain, "That does not make it any less acceptable." He slumps down a bit more in his seat, looking out the window. "Oh and he said his big brother could come get him." You nod again, "Find out what time he would be picked up and let me know." "Okay."

And with that, the two of you fall back into relative silence for the rest of the ride home.

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_Hey guys. Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know wht you think of this so far. I've decided that I'll be updateing on Fridays for now, though this might change later on and depending on how fast i write I might start posting two chapters a week. But anyway, thank you guys for reading. 3_


	3. Chapter 3

**Cronus. Meet Kankri.**

After checking the house address for probably the fourth or fifth time since you had entered this neighborhood, you decide that the house you are parked in front of is in fact the right house.

For some reason you thought that you had to ask Eridan twice if he was absolutely sure that he had texted you the right address.

Who are you kidding? Of course you had to double, maybe triple, check. What if you knocked on the wrong door? What if a grumpy old man answered the door? Or a little kid? Or a lonely cat lady? What if the lonely cat lady excepts you to stay for tea? How are you suppose to tell her that you aren't interested in having tea with her?

Anyway, you eventually get out of your truck, and walk up the side walk toward the house, boots clicking against the walkway. You fix your hair a bit, smoothing it back one more time before knocking on the door.

You wait a few moments, glancing around the front of their house before the door opens. Once it does, you direct your attention to the person in front of you.

The first thing you notice is how short he is. His forehead only just reaches to your collarbone, causing him to have to tilt his head back a bit to look up at you. He's wearing a vibrant red sweater and black pants. His eyes are a burnt brown color, and his hair is bright red and messy.

After blinking up at you for a moment, he then pushes up a polite, but obviously practiced smile, "Oh, hello. You must be Eridan's older brother." He takes a small step back, probably so he doesn't have to strain to look up at you.

You look him over once more before your eyes dart to meet his, "Yeah," You shiver slightly as a light breeze picks up, causing you to tuck your hands into the warm pockets of your leather jacket.

He must have noticed you shiver because he steps to the side and says politely, "Would you like to come in to wait for him?"

You really wouldn't mind waiting in your truck for a while, but you hadn't bothered to ask Eridan if he was almost done yet or not, and you definitely don't mind sitting with this guy while you wait.

He's pretty cute you guess, but you'd decided a few weeks ago that once you had moved away from your old home that you wouldn't go hitting on everyone that you meet anymore. But then again...

You say, "Yeah sure thing chief, thanks." As you put on your biggest grin and step inside, glancing around a bit.

His house is a decent size, much bigger then your crowded apartment at least. It's really clean, almost frightening so. In their main room, there is a long couch and a recliner positioned around a coffee table, facing a television that is pushed against the wall. There are a couple of tall bookshelves pushed over by one wall, organized immaculately. Then a shorter bookshelf over by the television, containing a large collection of movies. There's an unlit fireplace in the far side of the room with a few candles and framed pictures of what you assume is their family.

You can see the kitchen through a doorway to the right and a hall that leads off to the left. The house is mostly quiet, though you can hear Eridan and another younger boy's voice from somewhere in the house.

You turn to face him, standing just a bit away from him. You notice again just how short he is, and can't help but smile at the fact. You wonder how old he is, and once you think of that, you realize that you don't even know his name.

You grin down at him for a moment as he furrows his eyebrows in slight confusion, staring back up at you... And it's absolutely adorable. You continue to grin as you speak, "Sorry chief I don't think I caught your name."

"O-oh how rude of me," he stammers slightly as he speaks, "My name is Kankri Vantas." He holds out his hand for you to shake, "I do not believe you have introduced yourself either. What is your name if you do not mind me asking?"

Wow this guy talks a lot. "Cronus Ampora." You respond shortly, continuing to beam at him as you reach out your own hand.

As you shake his hand, you try, for the briefest of moments, not to notice how small his hand is, how incredibly soft his skin is against your fingers, or how his hand fits into yours perfectly. Yet somehow you manage to focus on all of these things at once. You really need to push these thoughts from your head.

**Kankri. Deal with Cronus.**

As you shake his hand, you try, for the briefest of moments, not to notice how large his hand is, how incredibly warm his skin is against your own, or how his hand envelops your own hand perfectly. Yet somehow you manage to focus on all of these things at once. You really need to push these thoughts from your head.

And that's exactly what you try to do as you let go of his hand quickly, probably a bit too soon to be considered polite, and turn to walk a bit more into the room, "Can I get you anything? Perhaps water or some other form of beverage?"

You turn to face him again, hoping that he will say yes. At the moment, you just wanted anything to keep you busy instead of just standing around and staring at each other as your brothers finish up the last part of their project.

"Nah, I'm fine Kan." He's still grinning at you. You don't mind that much that he's smiling like that, you hadn't even noticed until just a moment ago. Until then you had been completely focused on his eyes. You noticed as soon as you had opened the door that they look a bit strange against his appearance.

He's tall and built, with dark hair and slightly tanned skin. Well, tan compared to your own pale freckled skin. He's wearing a heavy leather jacket and black jeans with black work boots. But his eyes are probably the brightest eyes you've ever seen. They are a bright, striking blue, with faded streaks of smokey gray. They stand out considerably against his darker appearance.

"Well," you begin, "Make yourself comfortable, I suppose. Karkat said not long ago that he and your brother were almost done." You sit back down on the far side of the couch, debating on whether or not to pick the book you had been reading before he arrived back up but then decide it would be rude and you probably should be polite in holding a conversation with him.

You had expected him to sit in the recliner, or maybe even the other end of the couch, but instead, he sits not two feet away from you, right in the center of the couch.

"So Kan," ugh. You can't stand nicknames. It would be different if you knew this person, but you just met him so you can not think of a single reason why he would even consider shortening your name. The only person you allow to call you by a nickname is Porrim.

Never the less, you turn slightly to look at him as he speaks, "You go ta school at Skaia?"

You furrow your eyebrows slightly, perplexed that he would ask that. You hadn't really considered how old he was. Instead you assumed that he was probably a college student. "Oh, well yes actually. I am in my senior year there." You responded, "Do you? Well I mean I do realize that you and your brother have just moved here, but are you being enrolled in a school program nearby?"

He smiles at you, and you really hope it's not because you are talking to much, "Uh yeah I'm goin' to be a senior there startin' Monday"

You smile slightly, "Have you been to the school before to get accustomed to the area?"

He shakes his head and responds, "Nah, I'll be completely new to it on Monday. Probably gettin' lost in the halls like some idiot."

He laughs slightly and he's grinning and you hadn't noticed until now how bright and genuine his smile is. You can't help but smile, actually smile, right along with him as you speak, "You could always ask for a member of student council to escort you for the first day or so."

At this he wrinkles up his nose and then laughs again, "Nah, I'd rather not have to follow some random nerd around school on my first day."

You blink at him, biting the inside of you cheek momentarily, then open your mouth, only to close it again. Your shoulders slump a bit, feeling slightly offended at his comment and unsure of how to respond. Finally, you narrow your eyes a bit as you speak up, "_I_ am a member of the student council."

**Cronus. Be an asshole.**

Oops. Well you fucked up. He's frowning at you and he looks like he's a mix between angry and upset. You rack your brain for a moment, trying to think of anything that you could say to make up for it. Why did you have to open your big mouth?

"Well uh, I didn't mean... It's not like I meant that-"

He doesn't even give you the chance, "Oh, then do tell. What did you mean, Cronus?" His arms are crossed over his chest, and his eyes are narrowed.

You let out a quiet sigh, "Oh come on Kan, don't-"

He cuts you off again, uncrossing his arms to talk with his hands, "Don't call me that. My name is Kankri. Not Kan, or any other appellation of my name. I do not appreciate being called by other nicknames."

You take that as an opportunity to change the subject, speaking up quickly, "Ya don't like bein' called any other name?"

"No, I do not. That is what I just told you."

"So..." You start, "No Kan, Kanny, Kankers, Kanky, kankrab," His face is turning red, probably from anger, "Kankan, Kankrikri, Kanners, or..." He opens his mouth to interject, "Angelface?"

You smirk slightly as he sputters for something to say. His face turns a brighter shade in what you think is embarrassment, "That- that last one held no similarities to the ones prior to it!"

A wide grin spreads across your face, "Well sure it does. Ya see, you've got the face of an angel so I just thought it was fitting, ya know?"

"Excuse me!?"

"You seem confused." He really is cute, but it's not like it'll matter in the long run. He's probably not gay, even though the way he's blushing right now could mean- no. You aren't setting yourself up for this. This is just you messing with someone because it's fun... Right?

"Well, I uh-" Does he finally not now what to say? He's fumbling with his hand and looking around quickly as if someone is going to call out a line for him. "I just... am not accustomed to such forward compliments." He's looking away and his face is still a bright cherry red.

You feel a legitimate grin spread across your face as you lean a bit closer to get a better look at him as you talk, "What? You really aren't? You're fuckin' adorable."

He moves a bit further away, leaning back against the arm rest then laughs nervously, "I- I am not and I don't appreciate being called-"

"Called what? Angel face?"

His face gets turns an even brighter shade of red and he quickly stands up, not looking angry anymore, just embarrassed. "I... You... Why would you say something like that about someone that you have just recently met?"

You're a bit afraid that you may have taken it too far in continuing to compliment him. Though you are a bit relieved that he asked why say those things about someone you just met, rather than why say those things about another guy. So instead of worrying about it you simply shrug, then grin up at him. "Why not?" You stand up in front of him, crossing your arms and grinning.

You both stare at each other for a moment, you grinning, and him staring up at you, probably searching his mind for an answer, seeming as though he cannot come up with one.

But a moment later, none of that matters. You hear a thud from somewhere above you, figuring that it came from the second story, where maybe Kankri's brother and Eridan are working.

A look of confusion come over Knakri's no longer red face. Then after a moment you hear a younger male's voice yell from somewhere above you, "You piece of shit! I am going to kill you!" And before you can ask, Kankri is taking off down the hall, then takes a left, thudding up a set of stairs that aren't in your line of sight.

So for not even a moment you are left in the middle of his living room, standing there awkwardly. Then you hear Eridan yell and are quickly following the way Kankri left.

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_Thanks so much for reading! .. Again! ^_^ Sorry I didn't get a chance to post this morning. Let me know what you guys think please? Reviews= Love!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Kankri. Stop your brother from committing homicide.**

You feel bad for running off on Cronus like you did, but as soon as you heard Karkat yell you couldn't just ignore it. It's probably just him being cranky and stubborn but you'd rather not chance it. So after you heard the yelling above your head you took off, quickly making your way to the staircase.

Honestly you're a bit glad to have an excuse to leave your awkward conversation with the man downstairs. You haven't ever had a random stranger say those sorts of things about you. While under normal circumstances it might not be that big of a deal, you realize that you know next to nothing about Cronus.

Your first impression of him could at any moment prove to be wrong. But at the moment you believe him to be a bit out-going, talkative, much too friendly, and slightly intimidating. With an absolutely dazzling smile and beautiful, bright blue, captivating eyes... You didn't just think that… You did _not_ just think that.

You can't seem to figure out what to make of him. One moment he is practically making fun of you, and the next he is hitting on you. Well, probably not really hitting on you. He was most likely doing it to make fun of you. It would not be the first time someone would say those things to you in order to purposely make you uncomfortable. You doubt that he is even interested in men at all really. Not that you care.

Though you are not one to usually make assumptions about other people based solely on a first impression, he certainly doesn't seem like the type of person to be interested in other men.

When you make it upstairs you are absolutely horrified to find your brother on top of Eridan, shoving a pillow into his face. Well. You don't know what happened, but your twelve year old brother is trying to smother another twelve year old...

"I told you not to!" Karkat is yelling and you watch in shock for a moment before making your way across the room quickly.

"Karkat Vantas!" You can't help but shriek, "You let go of that boy this instant!" You march over to them quickly and try to pull Karkat off, grabbing at his arms and tugging at the pillow to no avail. He's thrashing and trying to wrench away from you, profanities practically streaming from his mouth.

From somewhere behind you, toward the stairway that you had just come up, you hear Cronus shout something. He is immediately next to you, wrapping an arm around Karkat's waist, and easily lifting him right off of the blond boy. The string of curses escaping from your younger brother's mouth become louder as he flails for something to hang onto.

Eridan is scrambling to sit up, and you aren't sure of what to do at the moment. You do know however that you will be setting up a Skype call with your father as soon as these people leave, to inform him about your brother's clearly unacceptable behavior.

You look over to Cronus, who struggles with Karkat, who is kicking at Cronus's stomach and legs, for a few more moments, fussing at him to hold still. Eventually the younger boy goes limp and huffs quietly in defeat. "Put me down asshole." He grumbles.

"Language!" You practically hiss as Cronus lowers him to the ground, setting him down carefully. "Karkat Vantas, what on earth were you doing?!" You really need to calm down.

Usually you don't like to raise your voice, especially not at Karkat. One, it strains your voice and you do not like to sound so harsh. And two, yelling has never worked with Karkat. He just yells right back, "It was his fault! He started it!" He is clenching and unclenching his hands and his face is red with frustration though at this point you would not be surprised if yours was too.

You see Cronus walk past you quickly from the corner of your eye, you assume, to help his brother up but you can't bring your eyes away from Karkat's. The two of you are practically glaring at each other, and he is seething in anger, baring his teeth hostilely.

"How is it his fault?!" You internally cringe at how furious you sound. He must be picking up on your anger quickly because he immediately freezes and his face drops into a mixture of humiliation and guilt.

"I... He-... Uh" he's stuttering for words and shrinking back some, crossing his arms and slumping his shoulders. He looks as though he is trying to shrink down inside of his black turtleneck sweater.

"Well?" You cross your own arms, standing up straight and glowering down at him from his place a mere five feet away from you.

Cronus kneels down to his brother's level in worry and offers a hand to Eridan. He helps his little brother up and dusts his shoulders off casually after checking he sides of his head for any marks. Upon not finding any he lets out an almost inaudible sigh of relief.

You turn your head just in time to look over at the younger Ampora as he speaks, "He's mad because I put glitter on our poster!"

Really? Is that really what all of this was about? You cannot believe that he would pick a fight with someone over something so silly. He's gotten into fights in some pretty strange situations but this is just a whole new level of foolishness.

"We have to present it to the class!" Karkat retorts sharply. As though a fire is rekindled he drops his arms to his sides quickly, stomping the ground.

"I know-w! I w-was trying to make it look pretty!" Eridan stutters when he talks too fast and this is no exception. You've actually noticed this with both of the Ampora boys. Both of them seem to pronounce their w's and v's strangely. Though Cronus seems to have a better handle on it.

"But I told you no glitter! No one likes glitter! Now everyone is going to think we're gay or something!"

"Karkat!" You try to interject but before you can stop him he's walking over to Eridan, whose brother quickly grabs his arm, likely trying to prevent another fight from breaking out.

"Those two things hawe nothing to do w-with each other!" He reaches down, scrambling to grab a bottle of purple glitter that was not far away on the floor by their "ruined" project. He was most likely under the assumption that Karkat would take it, "Eweryone likes glitter! Cronus let me go!"

"No can do Dan. Calm dowv-down." He grabs onto the back of his brothers shirt just as the blond boy grabs the bottle, clutching it to his chest possessively.

"Nooo! Only gay people like glitter!" Karkat fusses.

"Karkat!" You start to storm over to him, in complete disbelief that he would ever say anything along those lines. He's never been a homophobe before. After all, he knows that you are pansexual and has always been extremely accepting.

Eridan continues to try and squirm from Cronus's grip for a moment before freezing. A mischievous grin spreads across his freckled face as he says carefully, "nu-uh... Cronus doesn't like glitter."

Before you can comprehend what was happening, you hear Eridan yell, "See?!" And in a final attempt to get his brother to let go, Eridan dumps half of a container of purple glitter onto Cronus's head.

* * *

_Well... So that is that. I promise the next chapter will be longer. I'm still trying to get use to writing dialogue. Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! They absolutely make my day and I appreciate every one of them!_

_P.S. I had considered naming this story "Only gay people like glitter" ... Just a thought. _

_Please review! It means so much to me! _


	5. Chapter 5

**Cronus. Commit homicide.**

You hear a gasp from across the room. It's probably Kankri considering the direction the sound came from. The pitch also doesn't sound high enough to be coming from one of the two children in the room with you.

It takes your mind a few seconds or so to catch up with what is happening. For a brief moment you go completely still, watching tiny purple dots sparkle down from your arms and hair. Eridan's arm wrenches away from your grasp and you hear tiny thuds patter across the floor as he moves away from you quickly.

As you watch the glitter fall from your shoulders you straighten up and start brushing it off quickly. It's your first reaction but you realize that it's not going to help much. Glitter is, as most people who have worked with it before must know, almost impossible to get off. It takes two seconds to put it onto something, and days to get it off.

You're going to kill him. This will be a pain in the ass to get out, a-

_"Only gay people like glitter." "Nu-uh. Cronus doesn't like glitter. See?" _

You find yourself freezing yet again. Your little brother just outed you to two people who you barely know.

"You little shit!" You bark furiously, chasing after him, your large boots thumping hard against the floor.

He lets out a shriek as he starts laughing and trying his hardest to stay as far away from you as possible. He weaves between Kankri and Karkat, one of who is trying to pull the other closer to him and stop him from laughing at the scene before him.

You scramble to follow Eridan, stumbling a bit as you run past Karkat, who is leaning to pick something up off the ground.

You can hear Kankri trying to take control of the situation, telling you all to "Calm down" and "Cronus, Eridan, please stop running!" "Karkat put that down!"

Every bit of anger in you slowly fades with each step as you realize how comical this situation actually is. You and Karkat both have now practically attacked Eridan, who is absolutely giddy as you chase him around the room. All of this is because of glitter. Fucking glitter! It's not like he has done anything to hurt anyone or mess up anything that is really important, and everyone in this room is treating it as if he has committed some sort of high offense crime.

It isn't more than a few seconds before you grab onto Eridan. He shrieks and continues to giggle. You can't help but chuckle slightly as you grab his arms and lift him straight into the air. You throw him over your shoulder the way someone would a dead deer after a hunting trip.

Then you tip him over so he is upside down and clinging to your arms. His pale blond and bright purple hair is hanging down off of his face, and his normally pale, freckled complexion has turned red from laughing so hard, "Cro! Cro! This isn't funny!" he shouts through his giggles. Needless to say, it's not convincing in the least.

You pull him upright again and slowly lower him to the ground. Before Eridan can step away again you grab his arm and look back over to the pair of Vantas's across the room.

It's not even five seconds before Kankri is going off on a full-scale rant. He's lecturing you and Eridan for running in the house, lecturing Eridan for pouring glitter all over the place, lecturing you and Karkat for your profane language. He then turns to Karkat and starts talking his ear off about being inconsiderate towards his guest or something like that.

You're not even a bit surprised when Kankri doesn't stop there. He just keeps reprimanding Karkat, "Your behavior as of late has become absolutely inexcusable. Not only do you continue to use inappropriate language regardless of the fact that I have told you an innumerable amount of times how it is capable of offending others-" and he just keeps going.

You're really surprised at how much this guy can talk. He doesn't stutter at all, and each of his words are articulated perfectly. He speaks with perfect diction and it seems like every sentence, every word, he says has been practiced in front of a mirror until he believed that he sounded confident enough to use it in casual conversation... That's probably not a thing that happens.

"Dude! Shut the fuck up!" Karkat practically yells. That's when you notice the glitter in his hand. He must have picked it up when Eridan dropped it. _Oh no_. You step forward and reach for the container, hoping to grab it away from him before he can do what you know he is about to do.

"Karkat Vantas that is exactly the sort of language that I was just addres- KARKAT!"

Too late. You barely take two steps before Karkat has tossed the remainder of glitter onto Kankri. "Oh Eridan, you're right! Not all gay people like glitter," Karkat says as he burst into laughter.

Kankri's face is bright red and you should NOT be laughing this hard. Yet here you are, doubling over and laughing your ass off along with your little brother and his friend while Kankri stands there, crossing his arms and looking completely unamused.

It takes a few moments for you to get under control. Once you finally stop laughing you try to hush Eridan and Karkat only to have them laugh more.

"That is enough!" Kankri yells, causing the two children to freeze. "Is your project done?" He's practically glaring at his brother.

"Well," Karkat pauses, "we're almost done." He's shrinking down, knowing very well that he has far crossed the line.

"Finish. Both of you get to work then clean up this mess. Karkat I will be setting up a Skype call with father as soon as Eridan leaves."

"But I-"

"No. I have warned you several times over the past few days. Finish your project." And then he's turning and leaving the room.

You watch him as he goes, looking over his small frame briefly then look over to Eridan and Karkat. After waiting a brief moment you quickly follow him. Again.

You almost stop when you hear Eridan burst into laughter behind you and Karkat promptly yelling at him to shut up but then decide against it in favor of following Kankri down the stairs.

Well. Turns out he is in fact gay... Probably. It could have just been his brother being an ass but you're sort of hoping it wasn't. Not that you actually think you're going to hit it off with this guy. You definitely wouldn't complain if you did though.

* * *

_Thanks for reading this chapter. I'm really sorry that I didn't post it on Friday. I actually rewrote this chapter over this weekend. I was having trouble transitioning from one thing from the next so I apologize if the end of it seems rushed. I tried.  
_

_Big thanks to my sister, Hannah, who is acting as my editor. She's wonderful and all of this is actually based off of a role play that we did._

_Anyway, thank you all for the amazing reviews for the last few chapters. I absolutely love all of them. Constructive criticism is always welcome and greatly appreciated. Your feedback is so incredibly helpful to me so don't forget to send in reviews. **3**  
_


	6. Chapter 6

**Kankri. Go back downstairs.**

You can _not_ believe that just happened. Not only did your little brother dump half of a container of glitter on you. As if that wasn't bad enough, he just practically dragged you out of the metaphorical closet without giving you any say on the matter.

Though you can't really bring yourself to be all that mad over the last part. Especially since Cronus went through the whole ordeal before you did.

You're frowning and trying to brush the glitter from your shoulders as you walk down the stairs, shaking it from your bright red hair as you go. You can hear Cronus coming down the stairs behind you, his large boots thumping against each step as he goes,"Hey angel face wait up."

You're going to kill him. "I have told you I do not like being called that!" You snap at him as you keep walking, making your way into the kitchen to get a glass of water, mainly just making an excuse to avoid him.

"Ouch. Damn chief." It might just be your imagination, but he actually sounds as if you had offended him. It was not your intention to do so, but he did start it by bringing that awful pet name back up.

You sigh as you fill your glass from the water dispenser in the fridge. It's quiet for a moment as you turn to look at him. He's leaning against the counter across from you, arms crossed over the counter top and frowning at you. You can't help but make a mental note that you like his smile a lot better.

You blink over him for a moment before setting your glass down and speaking again, "Can I get you something to drink?" It's a question, but you're already turning to get another glass from the cabinet, again, not wanting to stand and stare at him for the entirety of the time you wait for your brothers.

"Yeah wva- water's fine." He stutters. You hadn't noticed him pronouncing his w's strangely earlier. Your mind goes back to Eridan's speech impediment, and how he stutters on words with w's and v's in them. It was most likely just a coincidental mistake on Cronus's part. Or maybe you imagined it.

You hand him the glass of water as he moves up to sit on the counter stool. You don't see a point in walking around to sit beside him, so instead you lean against the counter across from him and take a sip of your water.

It's not until you're halfway done with your drink that he speaks again, "So you're gay?"

As soon as he says it you're sputtering out water, and covering your mouth in the elbow of your red sweater as you cough. Your eyes sting from coughing as you chance a glance up at Cronus.

You _are_ going to kill him. While you are practically choking on water, he's sitting at the counter with a huge conceited smirk across his face. At this point you're sure that your face has gone red from lack of air. Or from embarrassment. Or both.

Once you finally catch your breath you snap at him, "That is _none_ of your business!"

His hands go up defensively but he still has that awful smirk on his face. "Ey, ey chief I didn't mean nothin' by it. Jus' makin' conversation is all."

The room goes quiet. All you can hear is the buzzing from the refrigerator and some shuffling around upstairs. You're trying really, really hard to keep glaring at him. But how can you stay angry at someone who you barely know, yet grins at you as though he's known you for years? You don't think you can. The sharp anger in the back of your head is quickly dying down to a low buzz of ebbing annoyance.

"It's none of your business." You restate simply, looking away from him.

"I'm bi." He explains as he sets his glass down and folds his forearms across the counter.

Apparently he doesn't know when to back off. You go quiet again and let out an almost inaudible huff of air. You are not inclined to tell him just because he told you first. Though you do feel a bit ridiculous for making such a big deal out of it.

You look away from him and card a hand through your bright, and most likely still glitter filled, hair as you talk, "I am pansexual. Though as I have stated before, it's none of your business."

Cronus's vivid blue eyes soften slowly as his lips twitch up to form an understanding smile.

Your heart does something funny when he smiles at you. Your chest warms up and it moves throughout your entire body like fire through your veins. You're trying really hard to ignore it but the feeling just makes you want to melt to the floor and disappear. The closest you can get to that though is to simply look away. It shouldn't be that hard, you decide, to tear your eyes away from his. Yet you just continue to stare at him for a while longer.

You should have looked away. Should have turned your head or stared at the floor. You can't figure out why it bothers you, but when someone finally looks away, it's him. He turns his head to look around the room and for some reason, this makes you want to scream. But instead you simply look to the side, and then down at the brown hardwood floor of your kitchen.

You need to think of something else to talk about. Probably soon too, for the now lingering silence is starting to bother you. But what do you talk about with someone you don't know anything about?

"So," he starts, "you in any other clubs, or just student council?"

Your head snaps up when he starts talking again. "Oh um," for some reason you seem to be finding it harder and harder to talk around this person, "Yes. I am. I'm also in Book club, Beta club, National Honors Society, the Gay-Straight Alliance, and the debate team."

Even though the debate team seems to have lost all its members. It's very strange but not long after you had joined, most of the members started to drop out. The only people left on the team are you, Porrim, and two other freshman students that haven't got a clue as to what it is they're doing.

"Oh so you're a super nerd?" He smirks.

Here comes the anger again, jut when you thought it was gone,"I am n-!"

He cuts you off quickly， "Kan no, come on it's a joke." He frowns a bit then smiles and shakes his head. "Just a joke alright?"

You stare at him for a moment, then forcefully sweep all angry thoughts into the back of your head as you breathe out slowly. "Alright," you mutter quietly them go quiet for a moment. "Do you plan on joining any of our schools clubs?"

"What? No not even. Not now at least. I mean I don't even know my way around the school, I can't just join a club right off the back." He chuckles.

You go quiet for a moment then speak up, "I can show you around Monday If you would like."

No. Why did you do that? You aren't inclined to do anything for him.

**Cronus. Score.**

You're honestly surprised when Kankri offers to show you around. Not because you don't think he's nice enough. He definitely seems like the kind of person to be polite to people he has just met. But you didn't think he would want anything to do with you. After all, he seems to be getting annoyed with you. He's snapped on you on more than one occasion, granted that they were for making comments that were uncalled for.

Maybe, just maybe, he's warming up to you? It's a nice thought, though hardly likely. "Hell, really? Man thanks Kan." You're grinning at him while you talk, trying to keep eye contact while his eyes flicker everywhere in the room except at you.

You're pretty glad that he stopped fussing at you for calling him "Kan." Besides, it's not like you were doing it to bother him. You shorten everyone's names. You guess he's kind of warming up to it? Maybe you can get him to warm up to "angel-face"? ... You doubt it.

He seems a bit nervous, fidgeting with the sleeves of his red sweater, as he speaks again, "Well... I suppose I had better give you my number." _Wait really? _"So you can contact me later, if need be."

You gape at him in disbelief as he turns and digs through a counter drawer, looking for something to write with.

You guess you had it wrong? Maybe he's not nearly as put off by you as you had thought. Or, much more likely, he's just trying to be nice. Still, the first possibility continues to linger in your head.

It stays there, nestled into the back of your mind as he jots down something down on a sticky note and hands it over to you. You stare down at the pale piece of yellow paper in your hand and grin. The handwriting is extremely neat, as if it were typed on a computer.

You force your eyes away from the paper and smile across the counter at Kankri, finally catching his light brown eyes with your blue ones. "Thanks Kan." you say as you fold the small yellow scrap in half and pocket it.

It's not even a minute later when you hear two sets of foot steps thud their way down the stairs. You see Karkat come into view, only to be followed by Eridan walking behind him. You decide quickly, though you didn't notice before now, that they look very strange next to one another. Karkat being short with dark hair and eyes, dressed in all black, jeans and a sweater, while Eridan is tall and skinny, dressed in a white and purple striped shirt and blue skinny jeans, with pale blond hair along with the newly added purple streak in his bangs.

You digressed.

Eridan is clutching his bag of art supplies in his arms and Karkat holds the poster board, handing it to Kankri for him to check over their work you suppose.

After a few brief nods from Kankri, the older brother hands the poster back to his sibling and begins to ask about the state of the room upstairs. _Did you pick up any scrap paper? Did you vacuum up the glitter? Did you remember to get the corners? Do I have to come check after you?_

"Cro, I'm hungry. Can we go home?" You didn't even hear nor notice your little brother walk up to you. You have to tear your eyes away from where they were figuratively glued to Kankri's face to crane your neck down and look at Eridan.

"Yeah little man, we'll hit the road." You grin and ruffle his hair, earning a quiet groan of detest from him. "Hey Kan? We're goin' to head out."

The red-head stops speaking for a moment to look over at you, "Oh yes that's fine. I will see you Monday, Cronus."

This makes you smile wider. You know the probability of him meaning anything by his words is slim if none, but still, the sliver of a chance makes you feel a bit better.

Kankri sees you and Eridan to the door then walks away, disappearing somewhere into the house. You are a bit disappointed to see him gone even though you know you'll see him at the start of next week.

Karkat, however, stays with the two of you, walking out on the porch for a moment, talking to Eridan about a some problem he's having with some "Soul" kid. You think its nice for Eridan to have someone to talk to. Neither of you had very many friends in your old town. When Eridan had problems it was always you who had helped with them. Even if his new "friend" is a bit short tempered and cranky, you're just glad Eridan is making any friends at all.

Deciding to give them a moment to talk, you take Eridan's art bag from him and make your way down the steps, checking your pocket as you go and making sure the folded sticky note is still there.

You could go for a smoke right now. You haven't had one in a few hours and its starting to hit you, making your head hurt a bit. You would go ahead and have a quick one, but you're working on getting out of smoking in your car. You use to do it a lot last year. That is until Eridan told you that the smell made him gag. You got a new car for your eighteenth birthday a few months ago, and you haven't smoked a single cig in it. Same goes for your new apartment. For now on, you're only smoking outside, so you'll wait until you get back to the apartment building.

You look back up to the porch to see Eridan and Karkat still talking on about people in their classes.

That's when you notice the curtains in the window to the right of the door rustle. You direct your attention to that window only to see Kankri peek his face out. He looks right at you so deliberately that it couldn't have been an accident. Then, when he sees that you are looking back at him, ducks his face back behind the curtain.

You find this a bit strange, if he was just seeing you off he could have waited by the door. It's even stranger, you think, when he parts the curtains again to look out at you a second time. His face is bright red now from what you assume is a mixture of embarrassment and shyness.

You tilt your head to the side a bit and raise a questioning eyebrow to him. He looks behind him as if you could be looking at someone else, which is pretty adorable you think. Then he turns back to face you and stares for a moment, clearly unsure of what to do. His face is still red as he lifts up a hand to offer you a small wave through the glass.

You chance a quick glance to Eridan and Karkat, who are still caught up in their conversation, then look back over to Kankri. You smirk slightly and wave. _You shouldn't do this._ You then blow an over-exaggerated kiss to him, mouthing clearly, "Angel-face."

You didn't think his face could get anymore red than it was, yet here it goes. He seems to sputter for a moment before pausing and mouthing back as he crosses his arms. He obviously mouthed, "That is not my name."

Now you have several routes that you can take from here. You could be mature and apologize or, "I can't read lips." You grin happily.

He obviously doesn't believe you because he rolls his eyes dramatically. "I'll text you?" You mouth.

He blinks a bit in response then glances down unsurely. For a second you think that he's going to shake his head no, or start talking about how you should only text him to discuss school matters, whether you could hear him or not. It takes him a moment to look up and respond. When he does, he just smiles and nods once.

Its a short reply, short and simple, but it makes your head stop hurting as a grin spreads across your face. You really like his smile. He doesn't seem to do it often enough. Though as soon as you think this, he's disappearing back into the house again.

For a moment you wonder what it was that you did wrong. "Hey Cro, you ready?"

_Oh._ It was because Karkat went back inside. You tilt your head down to look at Eridan. "Yeah man just hop in." You say as you open the passenger seat for him. You offer him a hand to assist him into the car which he takes and uses to help lift himself up into his seat. You really need a smaller car instead of his monster of a truck that Eridan can barely climb into on his own.

Once he's seated and buckled up, you go to close the door, only to have Eridan say, "Thank you Cronus!" And blow the same over exaggerated kiss at you that you had blown to Kankri.

Well, you slammed that door relatively harder than you would have liked to. The little shit is cackling in your front seat. "Tch." You roll your eyes and walk around to your side of the car, getting in and buckling up. "You saw that, huh?"

He's already pulling out his 3DS from the glove compartment and grinning as he turns it on, "Yeah, me and Karkat did."_ Oh great. The other brat saw it too. _"We think you'd be cute together."

_Oh? _"Yeah well don't get your hopes up kid."

He shrugs a bit and smiles. "It's just a thought." and then he's absorbed into Pokémon X, staring blankly at the screen and leaving you to your thoughts.

You know that you do feel slight attraction to Kankri. You think he's cute. You like his eyes, his bright hair and pale face, you really like his smile. So far your favorite thing about him is his voice though. Its cool and articulated, speaking with perfect diction no matter what he says.

You don't really know all that much about him though. Just from what he told you he sounds pretty smart, his house is tidy so that probably says something. However other than that you know next to nothing about him. You think you'd like to though.

You put your truck in reverse and start to pull out the driveway as you see the curtains in the right window move again. A smile spreads across your face as Kankri appears in the window again to watch your truck as you drive off.

You want to try and make this work.

* * *

_Hey you guys. Thanks for reading again. ^_^ please follow and tell your friends and uncles and cousins and neighbors and drug dealers and car salesman and the hobo that lives down the street, also if you want to write a review it will be greatly appreciated._

_Thank you all for the amazing reviews that i got last chapter. :3_


	7. Chapter 7

**Be Karkat.**

It's been two days since Eridan and his douchebag of an older brother came over.

After they left, Kankri seemed to be in a relatively good mood, seeing as that he never really did tell your dad about the mess that you made, or your excessive cursing habits as of late. You wonder if it has anything to do with Cronus.

You will admit that it is pretty rare for Kankri to get along with anyone. Most of the people he meets are immediately put off by his excessive talking. Seriously. The guy doesn't know how to shut up. He never gives short replies to anything, they always have to be wordy and complicated.

Needless to say when, as the two Amporas were leaving, you had seen Cronus blow a kiss up at Kankri from your drive way, you were a bit baffled. You're even more surprised when Eridan had texted you later that night, telling you that Kankri had given Cronus his number.

Anyway, with this information you did the only responsible thing you could think of. You bugged the shit out of Kankri about it. It goes without saying, that may have not gone over so well. He reprimanded you for jumping to conclusions. Which you obviously did not do... You just asked him how his boyfriend was.

He swears up and down that he does "not have romantic feelings toward Cronus." Knowing your brother, he's most likely telling the truth. But that doesn't mean that he could not start to have those sort of feelings for him. Right?

And he definitely feels something for him, or else he wouldn't be checking his phone as often as he has been for the past two days. You swear that it hasn't been more that ten feet from him since they left.

Even now, as he helps you with your homework, his cell phone remains at the corner of the coffee table. Not only is it strange for him to even keep it on the table, but he continues glances over at it and occasionally picks it up and checks if he's gotten any messages that he has missed.

This has been going on since you sat down. He'll explain something from your science textbook in great detail and while you write answers on your worksheet he will pick the phone back up and check it.

"You'll hear it when it goes off." you finally tell him after the sixth time of him clicking through his phone.

He looks up from the screen and tilts his head to the side slightly, "Excuse me?" He speaks with a hint of confusion in his voice, causing you to roll your eyes.

You shake your head slightly then look back down to your homework. "I mean," you start again, "you aren't going to miss it when Ampora texts you. Your phone will go off and you'll hear it."

"What?!" Your brother responds, "What on Earth makes you think that I am waiting on a message from him?!"

You probably shouldn't, but you chance a look up at him only to see that his face has flushed a light shade of red. "You've been checking your phone every five minutes since he left Kankri."

"That means absolutely nothing!"

"So you don't want him to text you?"

"I...," he lowers his voice and looks down a bit. "I do, maybe..." He sounds unsure. "I have mixed feelings at the moment."

You know Kankri isn't even the slightest bit experienced in this sort of area. His love life is, to put bluntly, nonexistent. He's never had a girlfriend or boyfriend before. He's never been on an actual date either. As far as you know, he hasn't even actually ever had a crush on someone. This is probably the closest he's ever come to anything like that.

"Karkat?" Kankri's voice pulls you back out of your thoughts, "What if he does not text me?" His eyebrows are furrowed, and he's frowning in a somewhat worried manner that either makes you want to hug him or slap him in the face.

"He's going to text you, Kankri." It's true. You've been talking to Eridan almost all weekend. Mainly about stuff at school, but the blonde did mention that Cronus was waiting for the right time to contact your motormouth brother.

"Perhaps he has lost my number."

"I seriously doubt that."

"But the weekend is almost over and he has not contacted me yet."

You blink over at his pale, disheartened face. "You really like him, huh?"

A slight blush works his way across Kankri's face again as he looks to the ground, drumming his fingers on the coffee table inaudibly. "I do not believe I know him well enough to make that sort of judgement as of right now. After all, we only had one meeting in which I did not learn much about him. It could turn out that I don't like him at all."

That answer is pretty much what you were expecting from him. "He could turn out to be an asshole."

"Language, Karkat." He replies shortly, furrowing his eyebrows more in an attempt to look skeptical. You're starting to notice he is getting more and more accustomed to your cursing. The only time you are punished for it now is when you do it in public. You know Kankri doesn't like you cursing around most people. Something about not wanting you to offend anyone.

He sighs quietly and then redirects your attention back toward your science workbook.

At times like this you really miss your dad. Your adoptive father that is, for you don't remember much about your real dad.

It's not that Kankri isn't good at helping you with your homework. He just can't seem to break it into simplified terms for you when explaining it. You've decided a long time ago that it's because Kankri knows everything. Or at least close to it. He can't really just tell you what you need to know and let that be that. He always drags it out into one long and complex lesson.

Your dad, however, always has a way of breaking things down and getting straight to the point when he taught you things. He'd explain what things were, how they worked, and how they were useful and then leave it at that. If you had any questions then he would answer them, but near bored you with useless facts.

Every time he comes home you spend as much time with him as possible. Kankri, on the other hand, while being very appreciative of him, does not spend nearly the amount of time with him as you do.

Sometimes you wonder if Kankri even misses him. Which is silly, you know he does, but you also know that Kankri doesn't think of him as your real dad.

To you, Kevin is the only father you've ever known, it's as if he has been your real dad all along. This isn't the case for Kankri. While Kankri loves Kevin just as much as you do, you know that he will never be as attached as you are.

Kevin has done everything for you two. He always wanted kids of his own, but never got the chance to settle down. Regardless, he loves both of you as if you were his own and does absolutely everything he can to make sure the two of you are comfortable.

"When's dad coming home?" You ask Kankri after you finish the last of your homework.

"Hm? What?" You clearly had pulled him out of thought. Which is strange. It's not often that he zones out like that.

"Dad. When's the next time he comes home?" You ask again.

After seeming to think about it momentarily, he responds, "I have not asked him as of late. The last time I checked I believe he said he'd be home in three months. It is subject to change though."

You nod slightly as you cram your binder back inside of your book bag. Three months is too long. Even though you know it could be much worse.

Kevin is a missionary. He's usually gone for sometime between eight and nine months a year. He comes home every few months and stays for a week or so, then leaves again. After months of this he comes home and stays until he is reassigned to a new job.

"I think I'm going to go get ready for bed, Kankri." You sling your bag over one shoulder then stand up, walking to leave the room.

You probably won't sleep much. For some reason it's been getting harder and harder for you to sleep at night. You can close your eyes and lay there for hours, but no matter how tired you are, you can't bring yourself to go to sleep.

"Do not forget to set your alarm for the morning, Karkat."

"I won't. Night, Kankri." You say over your shoulder to him as you head down the hall.

"Goodnight, Karkat." He calls back.

Then, just as you reach the door to your room and turn in, you can hear Kankri's text alert go off in the living room behind you.

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_I reached thirty followers! Thank you all for your continuous support._

_Please please please review. Each one really gives me an extra push to keep writing ^_^;;_


	8. Chapter 8

**Cronus. Call your dad.**

It's Sunday night and you and Eridan are finally done moving into your new apartment.

At the moment, you are walking up the steps to your apartment building, unlocking the front door, and making your way up the two flights of stairs.

Your arms are loaded with bags of food for the next week or so, for you had just been to the store to buy groceries for you and your brother.

Once you make it to your apartment you set one of the bags down in order to reach into the pocket of your jeans and get the keys back out. A few moments later, the door is unlocked and you are reaching for the doorknob.

A small murmur behind the door causes you to freeze in place. It was unmistakably Eridan's voice. You could tell from the pitch and the way he pronounces his w's and v's. But who was he talking to? You stand out in the hall for a moment, your hand on the doorknob, listening for anyone else's voice. Once you don't hear it you brush all thoughts aside and open the door, picking the last grocery bag up and stepping into the apartment.

Eridan is sitting upside down on the couch, head hanging off of the side and feet propped up against the back of it. His fair hair is just long enough so the end of his purple streak can touch the floor. You notice he's holding a phone to his ear.

He's probably talking to Karkat. As far as you know, those two haven't stopped talking since last Friday. It's nice that he's finally made a friend, even if that friend is a bit, well... Loud.

You kick the door closed behind you and make your way into the open kitchen. As you work to put away food you can hear Eridan's soft voice come from the other room, "Yes that's him... Uh-huh... he just got home."

You stick your head out of the kitchen to look into the main room at Eridan who is now righting himself on the couch. "He went to the store... Do you want to talk to him?" He says excitedly, grinning that innocent smile of his.

That's when you decide that it is obviously not Karkat. He would never offer to let you talk to one of his friends, that would be absolutely ridiculous.

You feel a bit stupid when you realize that it's one of your parents. It's been four days since you have spoken to either of them, though your father has been trying to get in touch with you several times a day since you left. You knew that you would only be able to hit the ignore button so many times before he would find another way to get into contact with you. Going through Eridan, you suppose, is obviously the easiest approach for him to do so. After all, how are you suppose to tell your little brother that you've been ignoring your dad?

Eridan stands up and starts walking toward you, "I'll put him on the phone!" He steps toward you but when he is no more than two feet in front of you, he freezes. "What do you mean no?" His bright smile quickly falls from his face to be replaced by a slight frown.

You raise an eyebrow at Eridan, who looks a bit distressed as he holds the phone up to his ear. Maybe dad's busy? You can't think of a reason why he would suddenly not want to speak to you.

Eridan seems a bit hesitant, holding still and listening to a voice on the other side of the phone line. "Oh... Okay... Yeah, I'll tell him... I love you too. Bye."

Eridan reluctantly hangs up the phone and looks over at you then away quickly, his blue eyes darting toward the ground. He looks as though he has been given bad news, and is afraid to tell you.

"What is it Dan?" You question hesitantly, half afraid to know what it is that is bothering him so much. You expect an immediate response but instead you're only greeted with silence. "Dan?"

"That was Mom." He looks back up at you, "She says you need to call dad."

Your eyes blink a bit in confusion and lean against the door frame, "Couldn't I have just talked to her?"

This is where Eridan shifts slightly from foot to foot, looking back down again, "I dunno. She suddenly said that she had to go."

You sigh quietly and lean back, digging into your pocket to find your phone, "What else did she say?"

Eridan's footsteps get louder as he walks into the kitchen, "We talked for a while... She was just asking how I was, how school was, and when we were coming back."

You scroll through your contacts until you see your dad's number, staring at it blankly for a few moments. "Did she ask about me?" You decide that you'll call him later, not wanting to face his inquisition encircling why you have ignored him.

You lock your phone and set it on the counter, then turn to face Eridan, who is pulling the newly bought groceries out of their bags. "Um... Not really?" He mumbles quietly. "Sorry."

Your shoulders slump slightly in disappointment, "It's not your fault, Dan." You advert your eyes from him to assist him in unpacking the remaining bags.

You don't know what you were expecting from your mother. She has always favored Eridan over you. The only times that she shows you motherly affection is when Eridan is around. Besides that, it's as if you're hardly her son. She often treats you as if you are a stranger in your own household. You understand that it is not unusual for parents to favor one of their children over the others, but lately it is as if she does not care for you at all. She hardly glances at you when you speak to her, she doesn't have the time to carry out casual conversations with you, and she occasionally berates you for minor slip ups.

On the other hand, Eridan is her perfect prince. Everything he does is right in her eyes. She consistently babies him and checks in on him without reason. She practically bends over backwards to find new ways of spoiling him.

Eridan use to be oblivious to the fact that he was getting all of your mother's love. He would spend hours on end going on trips and playing games with her. He use to go on and on about how they went out and did this or, she bought me that. It seems as though he's caught on to the differences in how she treats the two of you. He talks less and less about her, though you know she hasn't stopped spoiling him.

Once you and Eridan finish unpacking the food, he looks up at you momentarily, "Don't forget to call dad."

"I'll get around to it Dan. Don' worry about it."

He shifts a bit on his feet then looks away from you, "I just don't want him to get mad."

"I know. Trust me thats the last thing I want." That's not entirely true, but it seems to pacify your younger brother. You ruffle his hair gently before speaking again, "Go shower and get ready for bed. It's a school night and I'm not going to fight you to get your ass outta' bed tomorrow morning."

After a few protests from him, he finally disappears down the hall to get ready for bed, leaving you alone in the kitchen.

You sigh and pick up your phone, walking into the main room and sitting down on the couch, where you sit for about thirty minutes, trying to decide what you're going to say to your father.

You scroll down your contacts, lost in thought. That's when you realize you never actually messaged Kankri. You had written out about eight different messages, but they were all deleted before you could send them. You just weren't sure what to say, but you need to get in touch with him before it's too late.

Your dad can wait.

You send Kankri a quick message, "Hey angelface." That wasn't enough. You haven't talked to him in a few days, even though you said that you would, so the least you can do is say something more, "It's Cronus. Sorry it's so late, things have been crazy."

There. That's one thing checked off of your list of things to do. You really hope that he isn't too busy to talk. After he doesn't respond for a minute you decide maybe you should just call your dad and get it over with. You scroll down your contacts, but just as you're about to hit the call button, a text alert from Kankri pops up on your screen.

_Your dad can wait._

* * *

Hey. Sorry for not posting last weekend... Again. u.u I've been busy with finals, so don't be surprised if it is a little while before the next update. I hope to get back onto a normal schedule within the next week or so. Thank you all for bearing with me until then. I promise this fan fiction will not just stop updating.

Please continue to send in reviews. I love every single one of them!

Also also my homestuck blog on tumblr is homestuckshippingmotherfucker and i am taking drabble request If you want to submit anything.

thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. Bye!~


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